Greater Sydney Landcare recently hosted a successful corporate volunteering day with Google at Woodville Public Golf Course. On Wednesday 16th April 2025, 16 Google staff members joined our team to plant 544 native trees and shrubs, significantly enhancing the local environment.
Creating Green Spaces in Cumberland
The planting at Woodville Public Golf Course, owned by Cumberland City Council, addressed several environmental priorities:
- Increasing tree canopy cover on the course
- Providing more shade for visitors
- Enhancing floristic diversity to support local wildlife
This initiative is particularly valuable in the Cumberland Local Government Area, which currently averages just 0-10% canopy cover.
Golf Courses as Urban Wildlife Habitats
Golf courses can act as crucial wildlife habitats in urban settings, often featuring native vegetation, mature trees, and water features. These spaces support diverse species including birds, bats, possums, lizards, frogs, fish, beetles and butterflies.
The ‘rough’ areas between manicured fairways can incorporate remnant or restored bushland with dense leaf litter, long grass, thick shrubs, and both living and dead trees. These resources provide essential food, shelter and nesting sites for native wildlife.
As Jacinta Humphrey, Research Fellow in Urban Ecology at RMIT University said, “Existing golf courses can help protect biodiversity by retaining and restoring diverse bushland patches in the rough.”
A Collaborative Effort
Creating Canopies Project Manager Danielle Hughes, alongside Revegetation Officers Esteban Zepeda and Michael Keith, and Local Landcare Coordinator – Regional Support Sabina Roe, led the afternoon’s activities.
The planting will improve shade coverage, enhance species diversity, and create food sources and habitat for native fauna.
Native Species Selection
The plants installed by Google volunteers represent species native to the Cumberland Shale Plains Woodland, the original ecosystem of the golf course site. The planting incorporated a thoughtful mix of large and small trees to establish canopy and mid-storey habitat, featuring fourteen native species including:
- Gum trees (Eucalypts, Corymbias, and Angophoras)
- Wattles (Acacias)
- Port Jackson/Oyster Bay Pine (Callitris rhomboidea)
- Kurrajong (Brachychiton populneus)
After planting, the team staked and guarded all trees with 100% biodegradable guards, and thoroughly watered them to aid establishment.
Tailored to Corporate Needs
The event ran from 1 to 4 pm to accommodate the Google team’s schedule. Participants refuelled with a well-deserved afternoon tea of fruit, biscuits and Easter eggs while appreciating their significant contribution to the local environment.
Growing Partnership
This marks Google’s second corporate volunteering event with Greater Sydney Landcare. Their first collaboration in June 2024 saw eight Google team members plant 600 native trees and shrubs along Prospect Creek in Yennora’s Fairfield Road Park, also within Cumberland City Council.
Check out the images of the Prospect Creek planting taken in February 2025 showing how well the plants have grown in less than a year. It’s pretty impressive considering that the site used to be nothing but grass.
Looking Ahead
We extend our thanks to Cumberland City Council, Woodville Public Golf Course, and the Google team for partnering with Greater Sydney Landcare to make this day a success. We look forward to watching this planting mature into valuable wildlife habitat while helping to cool our urban environment.
Join Cumberland’s Bushcare Program
If you’d like to contribute to environmental efforts in the Cumberland area, you can volunteer to become a Cumberland City Council Bushcare volunteer, and regenerate bushland. No experience is necessary as training is provided.
Get Involved in Creating Canopies
Find out more about Corporate Volunteering with Greater Sydney Landcare here. Be sure to download our Corporate Volunteering Info Pack.
If you’d like to find out how to get free trees planted on your land, visit our Register Your Site for Trees page.
Come along and plant trees with Creating Canopies. Find out what events we have coming up on Greater Sydney Landcare’s Eventbrite page.
About Creating Canopies
Landcare NSW and Greater Sydney Landcare are planting 300,000 trees as part of the Greening our City program to help reduce urban heat in Greater Sydney. Proudly funded by the NSW Government.
